


Radio

by directium



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, PTSD, Repressing Breakdowns, character death (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 16:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6617656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/directium/pseuds/directium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kimball hears something over the radio that doesn’t affect her well. But she can’t let it show.</p><p> (For the current RvB Angst War)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Radio

She should have never turned the radio on.

She had just wanted some background noise while she prepared dinner. The date hadn’t even crossed her mind as she twisted the switch to ‘On’ and busied herself with cutting tomatoes while Donnie played in the backyard. She’d shift her gaze to the window every so often, and see him scribbling away in that little notebook of his as he examined the various insects in the grass beneath him.

She’d never tire of such a sight. He was such a smart little boy, so full of curiosity about anything and everything, and writing down any information he could find (six years old and already at the top of his class for reading and writing!). He was going to go on and do great things one day and Vanessa couldn’t be more proud of him if she tried!

 _Too bad his father would never get a chance to see his greatness,_ a familiar voice echoed in the back of her mind. She sighed and stopped her tomato-slicing for a moment as she attempted to push that thought away. 

Inhale, exhale. Slowly, but not too slowly.

“—seventh anniversary of the death of the great General Donald Doyle—”

She inhaled too sharply, and felt her chest tighten along with the grip on the knife handle in her hand.

No, it wasn’t the time to get worked up about this. Donnie could come inside at any moment, wondering when dinner would be ready. _Just turn the radio off,_ she thought to herself as she reached for the dial. _Don’t think about it. Don’t think about him…_

“To quote the late general: ‘Courage is not acting in the absence of fear—’”

She nearly broke the radio knob with how fast she twisted it in the 'Off’ direction, and the knife clattered to the cutting board as she gripped the edges of the counter in an attempt to steady herself while tears of guilt beaded at the corners of her eyes.

She inhaled and exhaled again, at the speed Emily taught her when this kind of situation occurred. She needed to remain calm and finish dinner. She couldn’t let him see her this worked up. It wasn’t fair to worry him—

“Mommy?”

_Shit._

She turned to face the little boy at the door and faked a smile as best she could while still trying to regulate her breathing. “What is it, baby?”

Donnie smiled wider and opened his cupped hands to reveal a strange beetle crawling across his palms. “Look at what I found!”

He just wanted to show her a bug. Okay, that was fine. “That’s wonderful, sweetie, but remember what Mommy said about bringing bugs in the house?”

Donnie closed his hands again. “'Bugs gotta stay outside because that’s where their house is and we don’t wanna take them away from their houses because that’s mean?’” he quoted.

She felt her breathing return to normal and the tightness in her chest faded. “That’s right. Take him back outside so he can go home, okay?”

Donnie giggled. “Okay, Mommy!”

She watched him hurry back outside and release his find in the grass and she exhaled slowly one last time. She was okay. Everything was okay.

No, no it wasn’t. She could still feel her hands trembling as she returned to preparing dinner and she made a mental note to circle the date in a bright red marker every year just so she’d never have a chance of forgetting again. Not to mention, she’d have to schedule another appointment with Emily and tell her what happened, which would only increase her stress levels further.

But as long as it meant that Donnie could keep smiling that sweet little smile of his, she would always find a way to handle it.

**Author's Note:**

> No one really requested it, I just wanted to write it myself so I don’t know if it counts as an entry (not to mention I’m usually more of a fluff wars kind of person) but hey, I figured I’d give it a shot. First time for everything, right? Also it’s part of an existing AU (which is where Donnie came from)
> 
> Also hey, shocker, more Kimboyle on my Ao3. Though when I say implied, it's more 'They slept together once before he died and Donnie came along afterwards.'


End file.
